The International Sloth Day is celebrated not in honor of the lazy persons in this world, but in honor of the monkey-like mammals, called sloths, living on trees in the forests of South America.
International Sloth Day was created in 2010 by AIUNAU, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to protect all forms of wildlife. The AIUNAU members in Colombia have been working for the sloth of 1996. They were appalled at how many sloths are killed every year by cars or power lines, and how many were taken to be sold as pets.
After saving the sloths, they feed them and take care of their recovery, and then release them to nature, to the forests to which they belong.
The sloths are cute creatures, quiet and shy, especially large and with slow movements (hence their name).
Because they crawl slowly on the ground, they spend a lot of time on the trees to protect themselves from animals that might devour them like jaguars, anaconda, and birds of prey like the harpy eagle.
When they feel threatened, they can move at a high speed of 4.5 meters per minute, but most of the time they barely move.
They sleep on the tree hanging upside down and there they eat and mate. They only get out of the tree once every few days, to poo and pee.
The sloths eat mostly leaves and bark, and sometimes small lizards and insects. They get the fluids they need from the fruits and leaves they eat, and seldom get off the trees to look for water. And it's not that they can not swim-on the contrary, they swim very well, they're just... being lazy to do it.
The sloths are not particularly social creatures. Most of the year they live alone, far apart.
The pregnancy of a sloth lasts about 5 months and the pup that is born depends on it for several weeks.
How to Celebrate International Sloth Day?
One option, if you're not lazy, is to go to a zoo and see them there. The second option is to get inspiration from the sloths and sleep 15 hours a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment